ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

CHP

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what projections she has made of the amount of electricity used on the Government Estate which is sourced from good quality combined heat and power; and whether she expects the 15 per cent. target for such electricity to be met in 2010.

Elliot Morley: 0.8 per cent. of electricity used on the Government Estate when the target was set, around 23 GWh/yr, was Good Quality CHP electricity. Departments are required to put in place strategies for delivering the CHP and other targets in accordance with the Energy chapter of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. We project that this will amount to 350–400 GWh/yr for Good Quality CHP in 2010. This assumes the 2010 target of increasing energy efficiency by 15 per cent. is achieved.

Energy Consumption (Televisions)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her most recent estimate is of the daily energy consumption resulting from the use of standby units on televisions; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Government's Market Transformation Programme estimates that the 60 million television sets in the UK consume approximately 3 million Kwh per day while they are in standby mode—approximately 8 per cent. of their total average daily energy consumption.
	In order to try to reduce the overall energy consumed by televisions the Market Transformation Programme (www.mtprog.com) has been encouraging manufacturers to reduce both the "on" and the "standby" power consumption of televisions through the adoption of design improvements, an EU-wide voluntary code of conduct, and best practice guidelines and targets.
	The EU-wide voluntary agreement on televisions has been particularly successful in reducing the average energy consumed by televisions in standby mode with the majority of new televisions sold in the UK soon to consume around 1 watt of power in standby mode rather than the 3–8 watts consumed by older models. We expect this agreement to be extended to cover additional consumer electronics shortly.
	In addition, the Government"s initiative on sustainable procurement, announced last autumn, includes a requirement for Government Departments which purchase televisions to specify televisions with standby power requirements of less that 1 watt.

Feral Animals

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce a policy on the control of feral animals.

Elliot Morley: We have no plans to introduce a general policy to cover all feral animals. The management of wildlife, whether feral or not, is dealt with on a species by species basis, as and when control is required, with action being taken by a range of different bodies, and by individual landowners and occupiers.
	One of the key recommendations arising from the Working Group report on the Review of Non-Native Species Policy (2003) was that policies should be established with respect to the management and control of invasive non-native species currently present or newly arrived in the wild. To this end research has been commissioned by English Nature to establish an environmental audit of non-native species within England (replicating a similar audit of species in Scotland by Scottish Natural Heritage), and by Defra to develop a standard methodology for carrying out risk assessments on species, pathways and receptor habitats. The results of this research will inform Government policy on the control of non-native species in the wild.

Waste Management

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much waste, by (a) tonnage and (b) percentage, has been disposed of by each county council by (i) landfill, (ii) recycling and (iii) incineration in each year since 1997.

Elliot Morley: The Department is currently preparing figures for publication on the management of municipal waste at waste disposal authority level. This information comes from the Defra Municipal Waste Management survey and has previously been published at regional level. The more detailed figures are expected to be published on the departmental website and a copy placed in the House Library in February 2005.

Waste Management

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) tonnage and (b) percentage of waste has been disposed of by (i) landfill, (ii) recycling and (iii) incineration since 1997–98, (A) in total and (B) broken down by waste disposal authority.

Elliot Morley: The Department is currently preparing figures for publication on the management of municipal waste at waste disposal authority level. This information comes from the Defra Municipal Waste Management survey and has previously been published at regional level. The more detailed figures are expected to be published on the departmental website and a copy placed in the House Library in February 2005.

HEALTH

Autism

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio is of (a) consultants, (b) nurses and (c) general practitioners with a specialism in autism spectrum disorder to autistic children in England; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Care Homes

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) care homes and (b) care home beds there have been in England in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Information on the number of care homes and places in England for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001 is shown in the following table.
	I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission, and now CSCI, but that comparable details are not available.
	
		Number of care homes(1) and places for adults aged 18 and over in England, 31 March 1997 to 2001 -- Rounded numbers
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Homes 28,900 29,000 28,700 28,300 27,500 
			 Places 534,400 553,500 546,200 539,200 528,000 
		
	
	(1) Includes residential homes, nursing homes, mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
	Source:
	RA and RH(N).

Chiropody

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each (a) primary care trust and (b) strategic health authority spent on commissioning chiropody and podiatry services in 2003–04.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.

Chiropody

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what waiting time targets apply to NHS-funded chiropody and podiatry services; and what plans there are to change these.

John Hutton: National waiting time targets do not apply to non-consultant led activity.

CPPIH

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the costs incurred in (a) establishing and (b) abolishing the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health.

Rosie Winterton: In 2002–03, around £2.5 million was spent establishing the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH). The costs of abolishing the CPPIH and the transitional costs associated with implementing the replacement arrangements will be met from within the CPPIH budget. The CPPIH budget for 2005–06 is being finalised.

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, have been made by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip.

Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of overseas trips and on internal travel within countries is not available.
	Other information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		£
		
			  Cost of flights 
		
		
			 1997–98 325,515 
			 1998–99 353,263 
			 1999–2000 313,946 
			 2000–01 320,406 
			 2001–02 388,460 
			 2002–03 391,313 
			 2003–04 464,271 
		
	
	
		£
		
			  Other overseas travel(2) 
		
		
			 1997–98 59,037 
			 1998–99 61,564 
			 1999–2000 46,361 
			 2000–01 41,005 
			 2001–02 37,120 
			 2002–03 18,817 
			 2003–04 39,080 
		
	
	(2) Rail and other travel.
	
		£
		
			  Costs of overseas subsistence(3) 
		
		
			 1997–98 183,366 
			 1998–99 170,461 
			 1999–2000 188,733 
			 2000–01 183,248 
			 2001–02 156,911 
			 2002–03 159,108 
			 2003–04 203,274 
		
	
	(3) Including hotel costs.
	All travel complied with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.

Food Standards Agency

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Food Standards Agency spent on information leaflets in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004.

Melanie Johnson: The Food Standards Agency works to the financial year. For the year commencing 1 April 2002 and ending on 31 March 2003, £503,958 was spent on information leaflets. For 2003–04, £193,219 was spent and for 2004–05 to date, £96,879.

General Practitioners (Derbyshire)

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for additional general practitioner surgeries in (a) the West Derbyshire constituency and (b) Derbyshire.

Stephen Ladyman: It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to commission health services to meet the needs of their local populations in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders. It is the responsibility of PCTs locally to determine how best "to use their funds to meet national and local priorities".

Green Spaces

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has held with (a) the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the role of natural green spaces in the forthcoming delivery plan on physical activity.

Melanie Johnson: Both I and departmental officials meet regularly with colleagues from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to discuss a range of issues. Both Departments are members of the activity co-ordination team (ACT), which I chair jointly with my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport (Richard Caborn). ACT is co-ordinating Government action on increasing participation in physical activity and sport.
	DEFRA and ODPM were both involved in the discussions leading up to publication of the Public Health White Paper, "Choosing Health, Making healthy choices easier", and have an important contribution to make to the delivery plan for physical activity.
	The Department is fully involved in the preparations for delivery of the ODPM Public Service Agreement Target 8, concerning cleaner, safer and greener public spaces.

Health Staff (Tyne and Wear)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nursing, (b) professional, (c) technical and (d) medical staff were employed in (i) the Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority area and (ii) the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Trust in each year since 1999.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		NHS hospital, public health medicine and community health services: Medical and dental staff and professionally qualified clinical staff in the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear strategic health authority area and the Newcastle Upon Tyne hospitals NHS trust as at 30 September in each year since 1999. -- Headcount
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear  
			 Medical and dental staff 2,407 2,558 2,622 2,745 2,861 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 11,081 11,098 11,906 12,332 12,455 
			 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 3,143 3,291 3,428 3,888 4,155 
			 Of which:  
			 Allied health professionals 1,480 1,571 1,611 1,696 1,832 
			 Other qualified STT 1,663 1,720 1,817 2,192 2,323 
			 Ambulance staff 617 512 512 541 545 
			 Of which:  
			 RTD Newcastle Upon Tyne hospitals NHS trust  
			 Medical and dental staff 967 1,073 1,136 1,173 1,190 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 3,398 3,213 3,539 3,616 3,613 
			 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 1,010 1,009 1,075 1,357 1,441 
			 Of which:  
			 Allied health professionals 394 394 417 383 419 
			 Other qualified STT 616 615 658 974 1,022 
		
	
	Sources:
	Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census
	Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census

Hospital Beds (Dorset)

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contingency plans for the provision of hospital beds are in place for the winter in NHS trusts in Dorset.

Rosie Winterton: In line with our policy of "Shifting the Balance of Power", it is now for primary care trusts (PCTs), in partnership with strategic health authorities (SHAs) and other local stakeholders, to plan, develop and improve services for local people. We recognise that health services are better when management is devolved to the frontline. Within the framework set out in the "NHS Plan" and other policy documents, PCTs, with their specialised knowledge of the local community, are effectively able to manage and improve local services.
	All national health service trusts, PCTs and social services authorities in the Dorset and Somerset area have developed escalation plans for winter 2004–05, which describe how the organisation will respond to an increase in demand above normal operating levels, but below the level of demand which would be declared a major incident.
	The Dorset and Somerset SHA will produce, on a weekly basis, an analysis of the information drawn from weekly situation reports, so that comparative data for key pressure indicators can be recorded and analysed. This analysis will be circulated to all organisations in the local health community.

Hospital-acquired Infections

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections in (a) NHS community hospitals and (b) other NHS residential settings in the community;
	(2)  if he will publish the surveillance data on rates of MRSA in community hospitals; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many NHS patients in (a) NHS community hospitals, (b) intermediate care beds and (c) NHS community settings contracted (i) MRSA and (ii) other hospital acquired infections in the last period for which figures are available.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 10 January 2005
	The mandatory surveillance of hospital-acquired infections, including Methicillin Resistant "Staphylococcus aureus", is carried out only in national health service acute trusts. Data are not collected centrally for community hospitals, intermediate care beds or NHS community/residential settings.

Illegal Meat

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what punishments may be imposed upon those found guilty of selling or trading in dirty, diseased and illegal cuts of meat; what assessment he has made of the suitability of the punishments; and what further action he is taking to tackle such trade.

Melanie Johnson: It is an offence to contravene Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 by placing any food on the market if it is unsafe. In the Crown court, the penalty for doing so is an unlimited fine and/or a maximum of two years' imprisonment. In the magistrates court, the corresponding penalty is a fine of up to £20,000 and/or a maximum of six months' imprisonment. It is also possible to prosecute some such activities for conspiracy to defraud under the Theft Act 1968, for which the penalty is an unlimited fine and/or a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment.
	In addition, confiscation orders can be imposed where a defendant has been convicted in the Crown court, or committed there either for sentence or for the issue of a confiscation order to be considered. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 sets out the strict rules to be met on the procedure, and the requirements to be met, which vary with the circumstances.
	The Food Standards Agency is assessing the suitability of the penalties, following consultation with stakeholders on the recommendations of the Waste Food Task Force.
	The Food Standards Agency has, with its partners in other Government Departments and enforcement bodies, a wide-ranging action plan to tackle meat crime. This action plan includes measures that have tightened the legislation on animal by-products, improved and provided extra resources for enforcement, and raised the profile of meat crime among sentencers.

Infection Control

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures his Department recommends for use in infection control in primary care in the NHS.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 10 January 2005
	In 2003 the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidelines, commissioned by the Department, on "Infection Control: prevention of healthcare associated infection in primary and community care". These guidelines are part of the Government"s consistent approach to support evidence-based practice in infection control. and are a good basis for developing local policies. The guidelines are available on NICE'S website.

Midwives

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwife vacancies there were in (a) England, (b) each strategic health authority and (c) each primary care trust in each year since 1997; and what the vacancy rate was in each case in each year.

John Hutton: Information on the number and rate of vacancies lasting three months or more has been collected by the Department in each year since March 1999.
	The vast majority of midwives are employed by national health service organisations other than primary care trusts; information on three month vacancies for midwives in all NHS organisations in England, in each year since 1999, has been placed in the Library.

Pay Television Subscriptions

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pay television subscriptions the Department had in each year since 1997; and what the cost was in each year.

Rosie Winterton: In 1997–98, a Parliamentary annunciator system was introduced, which provides a direct feed from the Palace of Westminster. This is a free service to hon. and right hon. Members in their ministerial offices,
	The only payment the Department makes for a television service is to the Central Office of Information for the viewing of Select Committees, which costs £27,739.40 per year.

Prostate Cancer

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of possible links between pesticides and prostate cancer.

Melanie Johnson: The independent Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) has recently completed a review of prostate cancer. The COC has concluded that there is some limited evidence to suggest an association between farmers/farm workers, exposure to pesticides and increased risk of prostate cancer. The COC advice is to be considered by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) at its meeting on 13 January 2005. The ACP is the principal source of regulatory advice to Government on pesticides.

Psychiatric Appointments (Blackburn)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many psychiatric appointments at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn were (a) booked, (b) cancelled by the hospital and (c) cancelled by patients in the past 12 months.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the members of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's expert working group on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors will be required to publish their interests.

Rosie Winterton: The interests held by the members of the committee on safety of medicines (CSM) expert working group on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were published in the annual report of the GSM for 2003. A copy is available in the Library.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many studies considered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's expert working group on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors included (a) raw data from clinical trials and (b) summaries of data.

Rosie Winterton: The findings of the committee on safety of medicines' expert working group on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were based on detailed analysis of a number of sources of data including clinical trial data provided by pharmaceutical companies, studies on the general practice research database, the published literature and individual reports from health professionals and patients. Full details of the data considered and the conclusions of the expert working group are presented in the report of the group, which is available on the website of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (www.mhra.gov.uk). Copies of the report are available in the Library.

Surgical Urology (Dorchester)

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide financial assistance for patients travelling to Bournemouth for surgical urology treatments currently available at Dorchester, if these treatments cease to be available at Dorchester.

Rosie Winterton: It is now for primary care trusts (PCTs) in partnership with strategic health authorities (SHAs) and other local stakeholders to plan, develop and improve services for local people. We recognise that health services are better when management is devolved to the frontline. Within the framework set out in the NHS Plan and other policy documents, PCTs with their specialised knowledge of the local community are effectively able to manage and improve local services. It is therefore up to the local PCT to agree to reimburse patients' travelling.
	Where necessary, patients are free to apply for reimbursement under the Hospital Travel Costs Scheme if they are eligible. Further details of the hospital travel cost scheme have been placed in the Library and are also available at www.dh.gov.uk.

Tooth Decay

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in reducing dental decay for five-year-olds in England since 1997; and whether he expects to meet his targets in the same group for (a) the average number of decayed, missing or filled teeth and (b) the percentage with no dental caries.

Rosie Winterton: The report of the decennial national child dental health survey 2003 shows that dental decay in 8, 12 and 15-year-old children has decreased since 1983 to its lowest recorded level. 12-year-old children in England have the best oral health of that age group in Europe.
	The targets set in 1994 were that 12-year-olds should have no more than an average of 1.0 teeth with decay experience, 70 per cent. of five-year-olds should have no decay experience and that five-year-olds should have no more than an average of 1.0 teeth with decay experience. The 2003 survey found that 12-year-olds in England had an average of 0.7 teeth with obvious decay experience, 59 per cent. of five-year-olds in England had no primary teeth with obvious decay experience and the average number of primary teeth with obvious decay in five-year-olds was 1.5. Therefore the target for 12-year-olds was achieved with a substantial margin, but those for five-year-olds were not met.
	The fluoridation of water offers the best prospect for improving the oral health of children. The 2003 Water Act transferred responsibility for deciding whether an area"s water supply should be fluoridated from the water company to the strategic health authority (SHA)—provided that the local population is in favour. We have been consulting on how SHAs should assess local opinion and will shortly be laying regulations before the House on the procedures they should follow.

Working Time Directive (Derbyshire)

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing the European Working Time Directive for NHS trusts in (a) West Derbyshire constituency and (b) Derbyshire in each of the last three years.

John Hutton: We do not collect this information centrally.
	Implementation of the Working Time Directive is a local matter for national health service trusts, performance managed by strategic health authorities.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on his policy towards funding crop sprayer aircraft in support of the Afghan Government's poppy eradication programme.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Government of Afghanistan's stated policy is not to use aerial methods to eradicate opium poppy crops. DFID supports this policy position and have no intention of using DFID funds to support aerial crop spraying in any form.
	DFID does, though, provide significant assistance to the counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan, mainly through our support to the provision of alternative livelihoods.

E-mails

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's policy is in relation to the storage and deletion of e-mails; and whether this policy has been reviewed in the past 12 months.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) continues to implement well established policies and procedures for the review and disposal of files in accordance with its administrative needs and the Public Records Acts. DFID has had a clear policy on the retention of significant e-mails on subject files since 1997. E-mails which record significant information or form part of a decision or policy development must be printed and placed on the relevant registered file. These files are retained in line with disposal schedules agreed with the National Archives, which have not been reviewed during the last 12 months.
	Insignificant e-mails and those of short term importance are deleted when no longer required and e-mails remaining in staff mailboxes are deleted after 90 days. This position has recently been re-stated in an e-mail policy approved in November 2004. The policy will be revised in 2005 to comply with electronic document and records management.
	Further e-mail guidance is available on the National Archives website at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/electronicrecords/advice/pdf/managing_emails.pdf.

Iraqi Interim Authority

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the joint proposal of the Iraqi Interim Authority and the International Monetary Fund to cancel the food ration to Iraqi families and to replace it with a conditional cash payment;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with (a) the Iraqi Interim Authority and (b) the International Monetary Fund over their joint proposal to cancel the food ration to Iraqi families and to replace it with a conditional cash payment.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 11 January 2005
	The Government of Iraq has said that it is committed over the medium term to enhancing the effectiveness of social safety nets in Iraq by moving from a food ration system, which handed out virtually free food to the entire population of Iraq, to a cash distribution system targeted at the poor and unemployed. The aim will be to help domestic agriculture, encourage private trade and remove price distortions, at the same time as ensuring that families in need are properly safeguarded. The details have yet to be determined, and are expected to be followed up by the Iraqi Transitional Government after the forthcoming elections. DFID supports the reform in principle. DFID staff and advisers will continue to maintain contact with the Iraqi authorities, and with interested international organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, to ensure that the interests of poor and vulnerable families in Iraq are protected.

Mozambique Floods

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid has been given by the UK Government to the reconstruction in Mozambique following the floods of 2000 setting out (a) the amount of monetary aid and (b) the amount of resources and materials which have been sent to the area.

Hilary Benn: DFID provided £37 million to Mozambique in direct response to the floods of 2000. This was composed of £10 million in additional budgetary assistance to the Government of Mozambique, £7 million for the reconstruction of the north-south highway and a total of £20 million channelled through United Nations agencies and NGOs to meet a range of emergency needs, including food assistance, helicopter operations, provision of water and sanitation and logistical support. DFID continues to be an important supporter of Mozambique's development more broadly and our aid programme has grown from £22 million per year in 2001–02 to £47 million in 2004–05.

Tsunami Relief Appeal

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the UK Government's financial contribution towards the Tsunami relief appeal will come from the contingency fund.

Hilary Benn: The UK Government have so far allocated £75 million as an immediate humanitarian response to the Tsunami disaster. The initial £50 million comprised £20 million drawn from DFID's humanitarian reserve, and £30 million from its central contingency reserve. The remaining £25 million, announced on 10 January, is being met through additional provision from the Treasury's reserve. None of this funding has been taken from our existing development programmes.

Zimbabwe

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the nature of European Development Fund support for Zimbabwe.

Hilary Benn: Since 2001, the EC has suspended normal development assistance in Zimbabwe and has redirected its assistance to those sectors that directly support the population. The main areas of intervention under the European Development Fund (EDF) are in humanitarian assistance, health, education and community development sectors. Humanitarian assistance focuses on food security and targets support to rural vulnerable households, through seed and fertiliser packs and small-scale irrigation schemes. The health programme contributes to the availability of safe blood and the supply of essential drugs. The education programme provides school improvement grants and the community development support is mainly for micro projects, involving small grants to communities along similar lines to the UK Government's small grant scheme.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Teachers (Hertfordshire)

Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were employed in Hertfordshire schools in (a) 1995 and (b) 2004.

Stephen Twigg: There were 9,070 regular teachers (full-time equivalent) in the maintained schools sector in Hertfordshire local education authority in January 1995, compared to 9,820 in January 2004.

Capital Investment (Dagenham)

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what capital investment her Department has made in the Dagenham constituency in the last five years.

Stephen Twigg: The following table includes the capital allocations made to the Dagenham constituency in the last five years.
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 2000–01 5,026 
			 2001–02 5,894 
			 2002–03 39,925 
			 2003–04 5,852 
			 2004–05 7,395 
		
	
	The figure of £39,925,000 in 2002–03 includes a Private Finance Initiative allocation of £35,000,000.

Foreign Languages

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the take-up of modern foreign languages at Key Stage 4 following the declassification of modern foreign languages as a foundation subject.

Stephen Twigg: The changes to the statutory curriculum at Key Stage 4 were only introduced from September 2004, so no assessment of take-up of modern foreign languages has yet been made.
	The changes have been introduced to enable schools to offer more choice and flexibility to their pupils, facilitating the introduction of new types of learning—something which proved difficult within the constraints of the previous requirements.
	A joint letter from myself and the National Director for Languages was sent earlier this year to all Chief Education Officers reminding them of the statutory requirements at Key Stage 4 and asking them to monitor the situation and promote modern foreign languages within their authority.
	While we anticipate a temporary decline in the number of pupils choosing to follow a course in modern foreign languages at Key Stage 4, the introduction of an entitlement to study languages at Key Stage 2 together with the implementation of the Key Stage 3 Modern Foreign Languages Framework—which has already had a positive impact on attitudes and achievement—will engage and enthuse more pupils to continue to learn languages from age 14 into adulthood. By providing opportunities other than the traditional GCSEs and A-levels, we are giving more accreditation opportunities which we hope will motivate more learners to study languages at Key Stage 4.

Pupil-Teacher Ratios (Newcastle upon Tyne)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many qualified teachers were in service at (a) maintained nursery and primary schools and (b) maintained secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne in each year since 1998; and what the ratio of teachers to pupils was in each sector in each case.

Stephen Twigg: The following tables show the headcount and full-time equivalent number of qualified teachers and the pupil-teacher ratio for maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne local education authority in each year since 1998.
	
		Maintained Nursery
		
			  Qualified teachers  
			  Headcount FTE Pupil-teacher ratio 
		
		
			 1998 25 24.0 23.8 
			 1999 24 24.0 23.2 
			 2000 26 25.0 23.0 
			 2001 26 25.7 23.4 
			 2002 27 25.4 23.2 
			 2003 29 27.3 21.7 
			 2004 36 30.8 18.5 
		
	
	
		Maintained Primary (4)
		
			  Qualified teachers 
			  Headcount FTE Pupil-teacher ratio 
		
		
			 1998 973 874.0 24.1 
			 1999 969 897.3 23.2 
			 2000 947 869.4 23.5 
			 2001 950 880.1 22.9 
			 2002 939 871.3 22.9 
			 2003 940 864.4 22.6 
			 2004 960 860.2 22.5 
		
	
	(4) Includes middle schools as deemed
	
		Maintained Secondary (5)
		
			  Qualified teachers  
			  Headcount FTE Pupil-teacher ratio 
		
		
			 1998 1,107 1,034.8 17.1 
			 1999 1,130 1,048.9 17.0 
			 2000 1,130 1,053.5 17.0 
			 2001 1,161 1,088.9 16.6 
			 2002 1,160 1,103.3 16.1 
			 2003 1,137 1,070.7 16.6 
			 2004 1,195 1,100.0 15.9 
		
	
	(5) Includes middle schools as deemed
	Source:
	Annual School Census

Special Advisers

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the attributable (a) articles and (b) contributions that his Department's special advisers made to (i) newspapers, (ii) journals, (iii) books and (iv) other media in their official capacity between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004.

Stephen Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 13 December 2004, Official Report, column 836W.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Telecommunications Masts

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to make changes to planning policy relating to telephone masts.

Keith Hill: Planning Policy Guidance Note 8 on Telecommunications was issued in August 2001 to reflect the changes in the planning regulations that were made at the same time. The Government have a strategy to replace all PPGs with Planning Policy Statements. PPG8 will be replaced by a PPS8 in due course.

Travellers

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to make changes to the planning system in relation to caravan sites for gypsies and travellers.

Yvette Cooper: On 22 December the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a draft circular "Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Sites" on which we have invited comments. The aim of the circular is to ensure that the planning system makes provision for more sites to meet the needs of gypsies and travellers.

Local Government

David Borrow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the merits of moving to a unitary system of local government in Lancashire.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is satisfied that the recommendations for unitary local government in Lancashire put forward by the Boundary Committee (with a minor modification regarding Ormskirk) would have represented effective structures for local government if an elected Regional Assembly had been established. However, as my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made clear in a statement to the House on 8 November 2004, following the decision of voters in the North East referendum, there will be no reorganisation of local government arising from our proposals for elected Regional Assemblies.

Local Government

David Clelland: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is taking to develop a long-term strategy on the role of local government.

Phil Hope: The Government launched a debate on the future of local government with the publication of a discussion paper on the future of local government, and a prospectus for local area agreements, last July. Over the coming months, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to publish further discussion papers on key issues, the first of which will look at neighbourhood engagement and leadership.

Local Government

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is taking to support professional development of local government staff.

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister offers support for the professional development of local government staff through a number of routes. These include:
	A National Graduate Development programme, in partnership with the Local Government Employers Organisation;
	A new Future Leadership programme, for middle managers, funded through the National Capacity Building Programme;
	A National Centre for Sustainable Communities Skills to promote world class skills sets for everyone engaged in the sustainable communities initiative.
	Authorities are also being offered opportunities for focused training to improve their management of projects and programmes and service delivery both generally, through the Capacity Building initiative, and in the specific areas of housing provision, IT and e-government service delivery.

Fire Prevention

Jim Knight: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what support is available from his Department to fire and rescue authorities to enable them to provide advice to vulnerable households on how to prevent fire.

Nick Raynsford: The Community Fire Safety Innovation Fund supports local initiatives to reduce fire deaths; the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is funding free smoke detectors and fire suppression equipment; Revenue Support Grant takes account of authorities' prevention activity; the research programme identifies good practice; the National Community Fire Safety Centre provides publicity material and guidance.

Housing

Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council houses were built in the financial year 2003–04.

Keith Hill: The total number of social homes built in England during 2003–04 was 23,794. Of these, 182 were built by local authorities.

Correspondence

Frank Field: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to respond to the letter of 20 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Birkenhead about the Provisional Formula Grant Settlement for 2005–06 and how it affects Wirral local authority.

Nick Raynsford: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 11 January 2005.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Hugo Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if his Department will release additional funds to help county councils meet their obligations to pay disabled facilities grants.

Keith Hill: Specified capital grants paid by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to local authorities for disabled facilities grant (DFG) can only be paid to local housing authorities. I announced DFG allocations to local authorities for 2005–06 on 27 December 2004. Devon authorities received an increase in funding of 10 per cent. compared with allocations for 2004–05. Total funds available for the DFG programme in England have also been increased from £103.5 million in 2005–06 to £120.8 million p.a. in 2006–07 and 2007–08. Allocations to individual authorities for these years will be made later this year following completion of the interdepartmental review of the DFG programme which is currently under way.

Local Government Finance

Hugo Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the percentage change in the environmental, protective and cultural services block of revenue support grant to district councils will be for 2005–06.

Nick Raynsford: Revenue Support Grant is an unhypothecated block grant. This means that it is not possible to identify the amount of funding that authorities receive for a specific service. Shire districts' formula grant (i.e. Revenue Support Grant plus redistributed business rates) is calculated using the total of their Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services Formula Spending Share and their Capital Financing Formula Spending Share. The increase in formula grant under the provisional 2005–06 settlement on a like-for-like basis for shire districts is £59.797, or 4.0 per cent..
	Under the provisional 2005–06 settlement, shire districts will receive an increase of £67.051 million, or 2.2 per cent., in their Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services Formula Spending Share on a like-for-like basis. Formula Spending Shares are neither grant nor are they the Government"s assessment of how much an authority should spend on a particular service.

Planning Policy Statement 6

Brian Cotter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the meetings that have taken place between (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department and representatives of organisations representing small and independent retailers about Planning Policy Statement 6 (Town Centres) over the last 12 months.

Keith Hill: In May 2004 I and officials of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister met the British Retail Consortium. Among those present were representatives of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents. This meeting discussed a range of issues including draft Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6). In January 2004 I made a presentation on PPS6 to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Small Shops, at which representatives of organisations representing small and independent retailers were present.
	In addition, during the course of Government business Ministers and their officials regularly attend conferences, seminars and events on retail planning matters at which representatives of organisations representing small and independent retailers are present and general matters of policy are discussed.

HOME DEPARTMENT

ASBOs

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been breached in each (a) month and (b) year since they were introduced; and what percentage of the total handed out this represented in each case.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the table. Breach data are currently available for the period from June 2000 to December 2002. The figures are available yearly, they are not produced by month. Data up to 2002 show that two thirds of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) are not breached. Breach and disposal (sentencing) data up to December 2003 will be available shortly.
	Courts take ASBO breaches seriously. From Home Office data we know that a significant number of ASBO breaches result in immediate custody.
	
		Number of ASBOs issued, as reported to the Home Office, and breached in each year, by period
		
			  Number issued Number breached (year of breach) Number breached as a percentage of the number issued 
		
		
			 2000(6) 135 14 10 
			 2001 322 113 35 
			 2002 403 178 44 
			 Total 2000–2002 860 305 35 
		
	
	(6) From 1 June 2000. Data from 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 were collected, for the whole period, by police force area on aggregate numbers

Crimes Against Young People

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) discussion forums, (b) conferences and (c) focus groups his Department has held on reducing crime against young people since 2001.

Paul Goggins: Since 2001 the Home Office has held three focus groups with young people to discuss the ways in which crime impacts on them and how to reduce crime against young people. The Home Office was a partner in the Children and Young People's Unit's (now part of the Department for Education and Skills) major conference "Safely on our Streets" where young people voiced their opinions on four topic areas; alcohol, transport, victims of crime and mobile phone theft.
	The Home Office has also held events to tackle specific types of crime against young people. The Home Secretary's Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet, established in 2001, meets on a quarterly basis with additional meetings of the taskforce subgroups and working parties taking place in a regular basis. A series of discussion forums have been held with young people about reducing the likelihood of them being victims of mobile phone theft. In August 2004 Ministers from the Home Office and Department for Education and Skill wrote to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) encouraging them to hold workshops on youth robbery. Half have already done so, the other half are planning to. A conference on this issue on 4 October 2004 also included a workshop on youth robbery.
	In addition to the discussion forums, conferences and focus groups held on crime reduction, other events have been organised to tackle antisocial behaviour and youth crime. For example an International Seminar on Youth Crime held in October 2002, examined the reduction of crime committed both by young people and against young people. Preparations for this included a meeting with the youth crime focus group and the organisation of a focus group in Huntercombe Youth Offenders Institute.

Criminal Records Bureau

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the average time taken for the Criminal Records Bureau to approve individual volunteers was in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what action he is taking to shorten the amount of time that staff and volunteers must wait before receiving clearance from the Criminal Records Bureau.

Hazel Blears: No distinction is made by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in relation to the time taken to process an application received from a person from the voluntary sector and from an applicant who pays for his or her Disclosure.
	The overall average for completed applications in November 2004, the last month for which figures are available, was 24.1 days. Breaking this down Standard Disclosures took an average of 12.9 days to complete and Enhanced Disclosures took 25.7 days. These figures may be compared against the Bureau's published service standards of completing 90 per cent. of Standard Disclosures within two weeks and 90 per cent. of Enhanced Disclosures within four weeks.
	The CRB will never sacrifice the accuracy of its service for speed; however, the Bureau remains committed to improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of its service.

Departmental Expenditure

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what purposes the additional expenditure to be funded by the planned increase in his Department's budget for central services in 2005–06, as indicated on page 132 of the Home Office Annual Report 2003–04, will be put.

Fiona Mactaggart: The largest element of the reported increase in Central Services is £79 million for additional Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ASLC) to cover the cost of increased pension contributions, made by the Home Office, to the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS). When financial allocations are finalised for 2005–06, these amounts will be disaggregated across all business areas.

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of refurbishments in his Department was in each year since 1997; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06.

Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 5 January 2004, Official Report, column 382W. Figures before 1990–2000 can be supplied only at disproportionate cost. The additional figures are:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1999–00 6.7 
			 2000–01 35.2 
			 2004–05 (7)3.0 
			 2005–06 (8)— 
		
	
	(7) Anticipated out-turn.
	(8) Not yet known.

Drug Testing and Treatment Orders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of drug testing and treatment orders have been breached in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority area.

Paul Goggins: It is not possible to calculate accurately the total number or percentage of orders breached in any one year. Some orders made in one year were breached in the following year; some cases are subject to multiple breach proceedings; some breach proceedings have been instigated and not yet dealt with by the courts; and 7,640 orders (30 per cent. of the orders made since roll-out) are still running. A completion target for Drug Testing and Treatment Orders (DTTO) of 35 per cent. was introduced from April 2004. The overall completion rate between April—October 2004 was 34 per cent. and each probation area's completion rate for the same period is shown in the table.
	
		DTTO Completion performance 2004–05
		
			 Area name: Target achieved(percentage) 
		
		
			 Staffordshire 14 
			 Warwickshire 36 
			 West Mercia 34 
			 West Midlands 40 
			 West Midlands Region 34 
			   
			 County Durham 44 
			 Northumbria 49 
			 Teesside 34 
			 North East Region 43 
			   
			 Bedfordshire 43 
			 Cambridgeshire 47 
			 Essex 22 
			 Hertfordshire 25 
			 Norfolk 19 
			 Suffolk 37 
			 East Region 31 
			   
			 Cheshire 28 
			 Cumbria 41 
			 Greater Manchester 35 
			 Lancashire 34 
			 Merseyside 47 
			 North West Region 37 
			   
			 Derbyshire 42 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 40 
			 Lincolnshire 48 
			 Northamptonshire 24 
			 Nottinghamshire 32 
			 East Midlands Region 37 
			   
			 Humberside 32 
			 North Yorkshire 15 
			 South Yorkshire 23 
			 West Yorkshire 23 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Region24 
			   
			 Hampshire 31 
			 Kent 22 
			 Surrey 26 
			 Sussex 38 
			 Thames Valley 26 
			 South East Region 29 
			   
			 Avon and Somerset 26 
			 Devon and Cornwall 32 
			 Dorset 51 
			 Gloucestershire 30 
			 Wiltshire 21 
			 South West Region 32 
			   
			 London East 21 
			 London North 35 
			 London South 53 
			 London West 22 
			 London Region 35 
			   
			 Dyfed/Powys 44 
			 Gwent 41 
			 North Wales 40 
			 South Wales 38 
			 Wales Region 40

Fixed Penalty Notices

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the offences for which fixed penalty notices can be issued; and what guidance has been issued to authorities by his Department about circumstances in which such notices can be delivered.

Hazel Blears: The penalty notice for disorder scheme was extended by the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (Amendment) and Police Reform Act 2002 (Modification) Order 2004 (SI 2540/2004), made on 27 September this year, to add a further 10 offences to the existing 11 offences. A complete list of the offences and penalties is shown in the table.
	Operational guidance is provided to the police on issuing penalty notices for disorder. This has been revised to take into account the new offences and will be published on the Home Office website shortly at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crimpol/police/penalty/index.html
	Copies of the revised police operational guidance will be placed in the Library at the same time.
	
		
			 Offence creating provision Description of offence 
		
		
			 Offences attracting £80 penalty  
			 Section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875(c.17)() Throwing fireworks in a thoroughfare 
			 Section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947 (c.41)() Knowingly giving a false alarm to a fire brigade 
			 Section 169A of the Licensing Act 1964(c.26) Sale of alcohol to a person under 18 
			 Section 169C(2) and (3) of the Licensing Act 1964 (c.26) Buying or attempting to buy alcohol for a person under 18 
			 Section 169F of the Licensing Act 1964 (c.26) Delivery of alcohol to a person under 18 or allowing such delivery 
			 Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act1967(c.58) Wasting police time or giving false report 
			 Section 91 of the Criminal Justice Act 1 967 (c.80) Disorderly behaviour while drunk in a public place 
			 Section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 (c.60) Theft 
			 Section 1(1 ) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 (c.48) Destroying or damaging property 
			 Section 5 of the Public Order Act1986 (c.64) Behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress 
			 Section 127(2) of the Communications Act 2003 (c.21) Using a public electronic communications network in order to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety 
			 Section 11 of the Fireworks Act 2003 (c.22) Contravention of a prohibition or failure to comply with a requirement imposed by or under fireworks regulations or making false statements 
			 Section 49 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (C.21K) Knowingly giving a false alarm to a person acting on behalf of a fire and rescue authority 
			 Offences attracting £50 penalty  
			 Section 12 of the Licensing Act 1872 (c.94) Being drunk in a highway, other public place or licensed premises 
			 Section 55 of the British Transport Commission Act 1949 (c.xxix) Trespassing on a railway 
			 Section 56 of the British Transport Commission Act 1949 (c.xxix) Throwing stones etc. at trains or other things on railways 
			 Section 168E of the Licensing Act 1964 (c.26) Consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 or allowing such consumption 
			 Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c.43) Depositing and leaving litter 
			 Section 12 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (c.16) Consumption of alcohol in designated public place

Identity Cards

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the source is of the figure that about 35 per cent. of terrorists use false or multiple identities, as referred to in the answer of 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 773W, to the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb).

Des Browne: holding answer 10 January 2005
	During an oral evidence session to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 4 May 2004, the then Home Secretary my right hon. Friend, the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) said:
	"I have been very circumspect and I have indicated what the security services have said to me, which is they believe that in excess of a third of those who are engaged in supporting terrorism use multiple identities in order to be able to evade detection and to evade us being able to disrupt their activities."

Identity Cards

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the likely size of the national identity register in (a) 2010, (b) 2020 and (c) 2030.

Des Browne: The current working assumption is that the following number of enrolments will be recorded on the National Identity Register at the end of the financial year which begins in:
	
		
			  Number (million) 
		
		
			 (a) 2010 11.3 
			 (b) 2020 70.0 
			 (c) 2030 111.3 
		
	
	The National Identity Register will continue to hold records of deceased persons and those who have registered and then left the country, to avoid fraudulent use of these identities.

Motoring Offences

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions which have resulted in custodial sentences there have been for (a) drink-driving and (b) other motoring offences, broken down by (i) type and (ii) gender in each year since 1997; and what each figure represents as a percentage of the total.

Paul Goggins: Information taken from the Home Office court proceedings database on convictions and custodial sentences for drink-driving and other motoring offences by gender 1997 to 2002 (latest available) is given in tables, which have been placed in the Library. Data for 2003 will be available early in 2005.

National Offender Management Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representation the relevant trade unions have on the National Offender Management Service Board.

Paul Goggins: Having initially agreed to accept my invitation to join the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Board, Ms Judy McKnight (General Secretary of NAPO) and Mr. Colin Moses (National Chairman of POA) recently announced their resignation.
	I have made it clear that I strongly support regular and open dialogue with Trade Unions as part of the development of NOMS. The NOMS Joint Consultative Council (JCC) provides a forum for communication, discussion, consultation and information sharing between the NOMS and the Trade Unions representing staff within the National Probation Service, Her Majesty's Prison Service and the core Home Office on those issues that fall outside the remits of the existing service-specific consultation frameworks.

North Yorkshire Police

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2004, Official Report, column 1507W, to Question 205652, whether the £2.9 million is more than the authority would otherwise have received.

Hazel Blears: If police formula grant had been calculated using the police funding formula without application of a grant floor, North Yorkshire Police Authority would have received £2.9 million less than the £75.4 million actually allocated under the provisional settlement. The settlement ensures that all police authorities receive a minimum increase of 3.75 per cent. in general grants next year.

Parole Board (Harry Roberts)

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the parole board dealing with the application of Harry Roberts for parole heard evidence in secret to which neither Roberts nor his representatives had access.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 10 January 2005
	The hearing of Mr. Roberts' case before a Parole Board panel has not yet taken place as a result of a series of judicial challenges over the non-disclosure of sensitive information in the parole dossier.
	The first of those challenges was resolved on the basis of a consent order agreed by all parties that the question of non-disclosure to Mr. Roberts was a matter for the Parole Board. It was also agreed that the material in question should be disclosed to a Specially Appointed Advocate (SAA) who would act on the prisoner's behalf at a Directions hearing before the legal chairman of the Parole Board panel that was to hear Mr. Roberts' case. In May 2003, the chairman subsequently directed that the sensitive material should be disclosed only to the SAA.
	Those decisions were then challenged on various grounds before the High Court in December 2003, at which Mr. Roberts was represented by the SAA in closed session. The Court of Appeal heard the case in July 2004. In dismissing the challenges on both occasions, the courts considered that the Parole Board had the inherent power and discretion under Section 32(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and the Parole Board Rules to adopt the necessary procedures to enable it to perform its risk assessment task. In Mr. Roberts' case, the courts held that the Parole Board's adoption of the SAA process, as a wholly exceptional measure in the circumstances of that case, was proportionate, correct and fair to Mr. Roberts.

Police Administrative Staff

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to ensure that administrative staff working for police forces receive the same pay entitlement for working on public holidays as police officers, with particular reference to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police Force.

Hazel Blears: The setting of pay and conditions is a matter for individual police authorities. Forces who are members of the Police Staff Council (PSC) agree to implement pay awards agreed at the PSC as a minimum, and to take full account of the PSC handbook when setting terms and conditions for police staff.

Prison Service (Sick Leave)

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average number of days sick leave for prison officers was in each prison region in England and Wales in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: The average number of working days lost due to sickness absence among all public sector prison officer grades for 2003–04 is contained in the following table.
	Information on sickness absence within specific grades for privately managed establishments is considered commercial in confidence and is therefore not available.
	
		
			 Geographic area Working days lost per officer 2003–04 
		
		
			 East Midlands (north) 13.8 
			 East Midlands (south) 11.9 
			 Eastern 13.7 
			 Kent 17.8 
			 London 17.4 
			 North East 12.6 
			 North West 19.6 
			 South West 17.3 
			 Surrey and Sussex 16.4 
			 Thames Valley and Hampshire 15.5 
			 Wales 8.2 
			 West Midlands 14.1 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 13.0 
			 All establishments 15.3 
			 Prison service total 13.3

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  who is carrying out the survey to identify suitable sites for new, large prisons; and what the terms and conditions of the survey are;
	(2)  if he will list the sites available in (a) London, (b) the South East, (c) the West Midlands, (d) the North West and (e) Wales where new, large prisons could be located.

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service, acting on behalf of the National Offender Management Service, is responsible for the survey. The purpose of the survey is to identify suitable sites in urban areas, which can serve their local communities and are of a size commensurate with the type of prison required in that area.
	The results of the survey are being analysed and further evaluation will take place before any offers or negotiations commence. The size and function of new prison establishments is determined by the size and mix of the projected population.
	The details of the sites cannot be disclosed at this stage for commercial reasons.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which private prison companies the Commissioner for Correctional Services has met in the last 12 months.

Paul Goggins: The Chief Executive for the National Offender Management Service, Mr. Martin Narey, has in the last 12 months met with a range of companies responsible for running prisons both here and in the United States.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who owns the land on which each London prison is built.

Paul Goggins: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, Secretary of State for the Home Department, owns the freehold of the land for the London prisons of: Belmarsh, Brixton, Feltham, Holloway, Latchmere House, Pentonville, Wandsworth, Wormwood Scrubs, and also the private prison site of Bronzefield (Ashford, Middlesex).

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will list the sites in Yorkshire that have been considered for the building of new prison establishments;
	(2)  which sites in the Elmet constituency have been identified as potential sites for a new prison establishment; and when the decision on whether to build a new prison in Elmet will be taken.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 13 December 2004
	A number of potential new sites are currently under consideration in Yorkshire. No final decision on location has yet been made and I am unable to confirm at this stage when such a decision will be taken.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) the target and (b) the actual number of drug rehabilitation places available in each prison in England and Wales is.

Paul Goggins: The locally-agreed targets for the number of drug rehabilitation programme places (entrants) available during 2004–05, as well as the total number of prisoners who have already entered between 1 April 2004 and 6 December 2004, are shown in the following table.
	On current performance, it is envisaged that by 31 March 2005, delivery will be in line with the locally-agreed target total of 7,885—exceeding the National Key Performance Target of 6,500.
	
		Drug rehabilitation programmes—Places (Entrants)
		
			 Establishment Target for 2004–05 Total entrants as at 6 December 2004 
		
		
			 Acklington 85 69 
			 Albany 0 0 
			 Altcourse 80 11 
			 Altcourse 72 26 
			 Ashfield 60 10 
			 Ashwell 84 59 
			 Askham Grange 0 0 
			 Aylesbury 48 20 
			 Bedford 216 156 
			 Belmarsh 0 0 
			 Birmingham 80 84 
			 Birmingham 40 11 
			 Blakenhurst 80 24 
			 Blantyre House 0 0 
			 Blundeston 36 24 
			 Blundeston 0 0 
			 Brinsford 0 0 
			 Bristol 100 72 
			 Brixton 60 49 
			 Brixton 120 97 
			 Brockhill 0 0 
			 Bronzefield 0 0 
			 Buckley Hall 0 0 
			 Bullingdon 180 66 
			 Bullingdon 40 0 
			 Bullwood Hall (F) 60 39 
			 Camp Hill 16 12 
			 Canterbury 12 0 
			 Cardiff 48 36 
			 Castington 30 10 
			 Channings Wood 130 77 
			 Chelmsford 60 36 
			 Coldingley 100 61 
			 Cookham Wood 24 0 
			 Dartmoor 72 48 
			 Deerbolt 40 20 
			 Doncaster 80 12 
			 Dorchester 40 .11 
			 Dovegate 0 0 
			 Dover 0 0 
			 Downview (F) 0 0 
			 Drake Hall (F) 85 50 
			 Durham 36 10 
			 East Sutton Park 0 0 
			 Eastwood Park 0 0 
			 Edmunds Hill 90 42 
			 Edmunds Hill 0 0 
			 Elmley 144 108 
			 Erlestoke 74 27 
			 Everthorpe 36 0 
			 Everthorpe 75 48 
			 Exeter 180 119 
			 Featherstone 36 0 
			 Feltham 0 0 
			 Ford 40 0 
			 Forest Bank 80 0 
			 Foston Hall 0 0 
			 Frankland 15 10 
			 Full Sutton 15 10 
			 Garth 40 35 
			 Gartree 36 24 
			 Glen Parva 80 59 
			 Glen Parva 100 30 
			 Gloucester 74 54 
			 Grendon 0 0 
			 Guys Marsh 72 57 
			 Haslar 0 0 
			 Haverigg 72 47 
			 Hewell Grange 0 0 
			 High Down 36 0 
			 Highpoint 96 47 
			 Hindley 60 24 
			 Hollesley Bay 60 0 
			 Holloway (F) 40 10 
			 Holme House 85 88 
			 Holme House 40 0 
			 Hull 40 0 
			 Huntercombe (J) 0 0 
			 Kingston 12 0 
			 Kirkham 36 12 
			 Kirklevington 0 0 
			 Lancaster 60 36 
			 Lancaster 72 39 
			 Lancaster Farms 30 0 
			 Latchmere House 0 0 
			 Leeds 96 60 
			 Leicester 40 11 
			 Lewes 64 12 
			 Leyhill 50 35 
			 Lincoln 36 0 
			 Lindholme 144 86 
			 Littlehey 65 41 
			 Liverpool 72 58 
			 Long Lartin 15 10 
			 Low Newton 88 56 
			 Lowdham Grange 60 60 
			 Maidstone 48 60 
			 Manchester 40 24 
			 Moorland 88 44 
			 Morton Hall 0 0 
			 Mount 96 69 
			 New Hall 96 70 
			 North Sea Camp 0 0 
			 Northallerton 30 0 
			 Norwich 128 58 
			 Nottingham 120 86 
			 Nottingham 76 89 
			 Onley 32 0 
			 Pare 125 89 
			 Parkhurst 16 0 
			 Pentonville 120 69 
			 Pentonville 40 12 
			 Portland 30 0 
			 Preston 80 0 
			 Ranby 54 42 
			 Ranby 36 24 
			 Reading 48 51 
			 Risley 90 75 
			 Rochester 75 40 
			 Rye Hill 0 0 
			 Send (F) 60 41 
			 Shepton Mallet 0 0 
			 Shrewsbury 0 0 
			 Stafford 96 59 
			 Standford Hill 0 0 
			 Stocken 72 72 
			 Stoke Heath 30 0 
			 Styal 90 56 
			 Styal 0 0 
			 Sudbury 0 0 
			 Swaleside 100 53 
			 Swansea 74 23 
			 Swansea 40 24 
			 Swinfen Hall 80 41 
			 Thorn Cross 30 10 
			 Usk·Prescoed 0 0 
			 Verne 74 50 
			 Wakefield 15 10 
			 Wandsworth 96 29 
			 Warren Hill (J) 60 45 
			 Wayland 96 59 
			 Wealstun 75 73 
			 Wealstun 0 0 
			 Weare 40 12 
			 Wellingborough 36 0 
			 Werrington (J) 0 0 
			 Wetherby 0 0 
			 Whatton 0 0 
			 Whitemoor 15 17 
			 Winchester 36 0 
			 Winchester 40 0 
			 Wolds 0 0 
			 Woodhill 40 0 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 60 49 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 120 96 
			 Wymott 72 56 
			 Total 7885 4332

Sentencing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact the Sentencing Guidelines Council is likely to have on the size of the (a) probation and (b) prisons caseload over the next five financial years.

Paul Goggins: The overall impact of the guidelines should be greater consistency and effectiveness in sentencing. It is, however, too early to make firm numeric assessments of the impact.

Sentencing

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward plans to ensure that the courts impose a fine or community sentence as the first option for most non-violent offences.

Paul Goggins: The Government have made it clear that prison should be reserved for the most serious, dangerous and persistent offenders, and that community sentences are an effective alternative to short-term imprisonment for less serious, non-violent offenders. It is for the Sentencing Guidelines Council to provide guidelines to the courts on seriousness and the starting points for offences.

Sentencing

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision the Government makes to assist women to fulfil community sentences, with particular reference to child care.

Paul Goggins: Many local probation areas have developed their own strategies to ensure that women are able to fulfil community sentences. Such policies include supporting access to childcare provision registered with the local authority.
	The National Probation Directorate is currently developing a national policy for work with women offenders which will be issued in 2005, after consultation.
	The National Probation Service recognises that providing community sentences to women offenders raises issues which must be addressed in order to ensure equality of provision.
	Most offending behaviour programmes (excluding sex offender and domestic abuse programmes) are accessible to female offenders and have materials appropriately adapted. The National Probation Service has also developed one programme specifically designed for women offenders. Some probation areas are able to deliver programmes to women only groups.
	When implementing community punishment orders, probation areas take into account the particular needs of female offenders, including childcare, in the type of placement and the hours of work.

Sex Abuse (Historical Cases)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in 2001 affected prisoners who were victims of historical sex abuse.

Paul Goggins: The changes made to the Tariff Scheme in 2001 included an increase of about 10 per cent. in tariff bands 7–23 inclusive, higher awards in sex cases, higher awards for serious multiple injuries, some re-ordering and re-wording of several injury descriptions (including many of those for physical and sexual abuse), and the addition of a number of new injury descriptions.
	All successful applicants submitting claims after these changes came into force, including prisoners who were victims of historical sex abuse, would have benefited from these improvements. But the basic eligibility criteria and the interpretation of the Scheme rules by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority remained substantially unchanged, and the 2001 changes are not thought therefore to have had any other effect on the group in question.

Sex Abuse (Historical Cases)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the factors underlying the take-up rate of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in historical child abuse cases.

Paul Goggins: No such assessment has been made; nor is any planned.

Suicide

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suicides there have been in each month of 2004; and what the figures were each month in the last two years.

Paul Goggins: The number of apparently self-inflicted deaths in English and Welsh prisons in each month, January 2002-December 2004, is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 January 7 13 10 
			 February 7 9 12 
			 March 5 8 7 
			 April 8 7 7 
			 May 9 7 8 
			 June 8 7 6 
			 July 5 7 6 
			 August 12 4 14 
			 September 11 8 8 
			 October 9 5 9 
			 November 5 13 5 
			 December 9 6 3 
		
	
	Note:
	The Prison Service employs the term self-inflicted death rather than suicide. This includes all those deaths where it appears the prisoner has acted specifically to take his/her own life.
	Reducing the rate of self-inflicted deaths in prison establishments is a key priority. As the hon. Member is aware, I made an announcement on 31 March 2004 about the Prison Service's suicide prevention strategy. This will link existing programmes and planned investment in five broad areas of work:
	Regime, activities and care-planning for all prisoners
	Improved knowledge and outlooks of all staff at all levels
	Meeting the special needs of the most vulnerable prisoners
	Training and support for staff
	Design solutions to minimise impulsive acts.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

All-seater Stadiums

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has recently received regarding the relaxation of the requirements for Premier League and First Division football grounds to be all-seater; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: In September 2004 the Department received representations from Peter Caton, Campaign Co-ordinator of the Stand Up Sit Down campaign asking the Government to consider their proposals for the reintroduction of standing at Premier League and First Division football matches.
	The Department has also received a number of letters from Members of Parliament following representations they have received from their constituents asking the Government to consider the Stand Up Sit Down proposals.
	Having carefully considered the Stand Up Sit Down solutions, it is clear that these measures would run against the Government's current policy that football grounds in the top two divisions shall be all-seated. There is also a concern that the proposal would seek to introduce standing accommodation without the safeguards that are currently required on standing terraces in the lower divisions.
	The all-seater policy has been in place since 1991, following Lord Justice Taylor's report into the Hillsborough disaster. Lord Taylor summarised his position by saying that there is no cure-all solution that will achieve complete safety and solve all problems to do with crowd behaviour and control. However he was satisfied that seating does more to achieve those objectives than any other measure.
	Following a pre-election commitment, the Government reviewed the all-seater policy in consultation with the Football Licensing Authority (FLA) in 1997. That review concurred with Lord Taylor's conclusion that seated accommodation is demonstrably safer than standing accommodation, regardless of how the stadium is configured.
	The FLA's figures for injuries at UK stadia over recent seasons consistently show that spectators are approximately twice as likely to be injured at grounds where standing is permitted, compared to all-seater stadia.

All-seater Stadiums

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent requests she has received from organisations requesting a meeting to discuss legislation relating to seating at football matches; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: In September 2004 the Department received representations from Peter Caton, Campaign Co-ordinator of the Stand Up Sit Down campaign offering to meet the Department to discuss their proposals for the reintroduction of standing at football matches.
	The Department has carefully considered the Stand Up Sit Down proposals in consultation with the Football Licensing Authority (FLA) which is one of the Department's sponsored bodies and is our advisor on matters of safety at football grounds.
	I understand that the FLA has agreed to meet Mr. Caton to discuss the proposals further.
	It is right that the Government should consider any representations made regarding standing at football matches. As Lord Taylor recognised, the debate about the virtues of seating at football matches is a controversial one and must be approached with sensitivity and an open mind.
	However, it remains the Government's position that the grounds of the clubs in the top two divisions of football should remain all-seated.

Ambient Gambling

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what definition the Department uses of ambient gambling.

Richard Caborn: The Gambling Bill does not utilise the concept of ambient gambling as such, which was defined in paragraph 3.21 of the Budd report as the provision of gambling facilities on premises whose main purpose is not gambling.

Ambient Gambling

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment the Department has made of the risk of gambling addiction from (a) ambient gambling and (b) gambling from the home.

Richard Caborn: We do not have the necessary evidence to make such a general assessment, bearing in mind that both forms of gambling cover a wide range of gambling activities.

Free TV Licences (Dagenham)

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many households in each ward of the Dagenham constituency are entitled to free television licences.

Estelle Morris: TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. The number of households with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in the Dagenham constituency in 2003–04 was 5,155, according to Department for Work and Pensions records. Winter fuel payment data at ward level relate to Census wards rather than electoral wards and consequently do not correspond precisely to constituency boundaries.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Spam E-mails

Howard Flight: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee what steps have been taken since 16 June to protect hon. Members, peers and their staff against spam e-mails; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Key: Since June 2004 a new e-mail filtering service has been in operation. This third party service scans all inbound e-mails and blocks those that are found to contain viruses or content known to be Spam. During the first six months of operation 11,439,431 e-mails were scanned. Of these, 4,982,447 (43.55 per cent.) were found to be Spam and 991,491 (8.66 per cent.) to contain viruses. Intended recipients are notified when e-mails have been blocked and can check those judged to be Spam if they wish to do so. Based on customer feedback received to date, the service is working very well.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Equipment

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many items of electrical equipment were used by his Department in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by (a) cost and (b) number of each type of item.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. All expenditure on electrical items is made in accordance with departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting.

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department on lighting in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: It is not possible to separate the amount we have spent on lighting from other electricity costs. All electricity expenditure is made in accordance with departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting.

Pay Television Subscriptions

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pay television subscriptions the Department had in each year since 1997; and what the cost was in each year.

Maria Eagle: Information to answer this question is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Special Advisers

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the contracts signed by his special advisers differ from the Model Contract for Special Advisers.

Maria Eagle: All DWP Special Adviser contracts which set out their terms and conditions of service are based on the Model Contract for Special Advisers.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Education Unit

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many pupils and students took part in visits to the House of Commons arranged by the House's Education Unit during the 2003–04 parliamentary Session, broken down by (i) region and nation of the UK and (ii) primary, secondary, and tertiary sector.

Archy Kirkwood: In the 2003–04 Session the Parliamentary Education Unit (the unit is a shared service representing both the House of Commons and the House of Lords) welcomed groups as follows:
	
		
			 Region Autumn visits Citizenship (Primary) Citizenship (Secondary) Discover Parliament Student (Mock) Parliament Special Schools (Secondary) Overall total 
		
		
			 South East 118 28 10 19 18 12 205 
			 South West 6 3 1 2 2 2 16 
			 East Anglia 26 0 2 7 8 0 43 
			 West Midlands 12 4 1 1 0 1 19 
			 East Midlands 9 2 0 0 0 0 11 
			 North East 3 0 0 0 2 0 5 
			 North West 8 0 1 1 2 0 12 
			 Yorks and Humberside 5 0 1 0 0 0 6 
			 Scotland 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Wales 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Northern Ireland 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 
			  
			 Number of schools 188 56 30 32 15 338 
			 Primary 0 39 — 0 0 0 39 
			 Secondary 188 — 17 30 32 15 282 
			 Total number students 5,979 1,248 544 960 512 525 9,768 
		
	
	In the same period the Central Tours Office arranged visits for 48,000 pupils and students. All of the visits programmes offered by the Education Unit were fully booked for the academic year 2004–05 by mid October 2004.

Postal Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reason the House authorities have decided to put out to tender the postal services of the House.

Archy Kirkwood: Postal services on the parliamentary estate have never been subject to a formal competitive tender and it was recognised that this was in breach of EU directives, and could attract legal challenge from other suppliers and from the EU Commission itself.
	Royal Mail advised the House in October 2003 that, following their own internal review of mail services supplied to Parliament, they were seeking to increase costs by over 200 per cent. just to maintain the status quo. Parliament has a duty to protect the public purse and justifying such a significant price increase while seeking an exemption from the competitive process was not sustainable.
	Given these facts it was decided that a tendering exercise was essential to ensure value for money for the taxpayer and to comply with EU regulations. It was necessary to advertise the mail service in OJEU and this was done in February 2004. Four firms (including Royal Mail) have been shortlisted to receive invitations to tender early in 2005.

CABINET OFFICE

Asylum Seekers (Targets)

Alistair Burt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what involvement the No. 10 Delivery Unit had in the (a) setting and (b) monitoring of targets relating to the removal of refused asylum seekers from the UK from 1999 to 2002.

David Miliband: The Prime Minister's Delivery Unit was established in June 2001. It played no part in the setting of Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets prior to that date.
	Overall responsibility for setting PSA targets lies with Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) and relevant departments. The Delivery Unit contributes to the process by providing advice on the design, measurement and monitoring of PSAs. This was the role the Unit played as part of the Spending Review 2002.
	The asylum PSA targets are among those for which the Delivery Unit has a continuing role in monitoring performance.
	Progress against the delivery of PSA targets is available on HMT's website at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/performance/

Public Engagements

Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list his public engagements fulfilled in each month since September.

David Miliband: holding answer 20 December 2004
	My right hon. Friend, the former Minister for the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly), carried out the following public engagements between September and 15 December 2004.
	12 October 2004—Speech to the Alliance for Digital Inclusion.
	26 October 2004—Keynote address at the Pharmacy Business Awards dinner.
	9 November 2004—Speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research at the University of London.
	15 December 2004—Speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research's Public Services Forum.

Regulatory Accountability Panel

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many occasions the Prime Minister's Panel for Regulatory Accountability has met since March; which regulations likely to impose a significant cost to business have been scrutinised by the panel; and which regulatory proposals have been (a) rejected and (b) delayed by the panel.

David Miliband: We do not disclose information relating to the proceedings of the Cabinet and its committees.

Special Advisers

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many occasions between 31 March 2002 and 31 March 2003 his special advisers travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost.

David Miliband: In the financial year 2002–03, Cabinet Office special advisers did not make any visits overseas in an official capacity.

Working Time Regulations

Graham Brady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials working in ministerial private offices in the Department have worked more than a 48 hour week at any time in the last 12 months for which figures are available; how many of those had signed a waiver under working time regulations; and what percentage these figures represented of the total in each case.

David Miliband: The Working Time Regulations provide workers with the protection of a limit of an average of 48 hours a week working time. This is not an absolute cap of 48 hours in any one week. This average is normally calculated over a 17-week reference period, although this can be longer in certain situations (26 weeks) and can be extended by agreement (up to 52 weeks). Workers may choose to work more than 48 hours per week over this reference period by signing an opt-out agreement, but employers cannot force a worker to sign an opt-out, and workers cannot be subjected to detriment for refusing to sign an opt-out.
	The Cabinet Office has two officials working in ministerial private offices who have signed a waiver under the working time regulations.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Sexual Health

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many newly-acquired acute sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS (a) were recorded in 2003 and (b) have been recorded to date in 2004 in the Province.

Angela Smith: The number of newly acquired acute sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS that (a) were recorded in 2003 and (b) have been recorded to date in 2004 in the Province are shown in the table below. Information is based on the initial contacts at Genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics in Northern Ireland.
	
		
			  Number of newly acquired acute sexually transmitted infections 
		
		
			 2003 9,197 
			 2004 4,743 
		
	
	Notes:
	Information for 2003 covers the time period 1 January to 31 December 2003. Information for 2004, from 1 January 2004 until 30 September, is incomplete; as not all returns have been submitted at this point in time therefore this figure is provisional.

Breast Screening

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many additional staff have been recruited to assist with the increased level of breast screening resulting from widening the age range for screening in the Province.

Angela Smith: The Department aims to have the extended breast screening programme implemented in 2006. In the meantime a total of 2.1 (whole time equivalents) additional radiographers have been recruited to expand the capacity of the system, in order to accommodate the screening of women in the 65–70 age group.

Clinical Negligence

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many clinical negligence cases are pending within each health trust in the Province.

Angela Smith: At 30 November 2004, the number of cases pending in each Trust was as follows:
	
		
			 Trust Number of cases 
		
		
			 Altnagelvin Hospitals HSS Trust 238 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 45 
			 Belfast City Hospital Trust HSS Trust 290 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 60 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust8 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 168 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 159 
			 Foyle HSS Trust 21 
			 Green Park HSS Trust 51 
			 Homefirst Community HSS Trust 13 
			 Mater Hospital HSS Trust 99 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 103 
			 Northern Ireland Ambulance Service HSS Trust 3 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 7 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals and Dental Hospital HSS Trust 558 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 10 
			 Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust 131 
			 United Hospitals HSS Hospital Trust 237 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals HSS Trust 272

Departmental Conferences

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how much has been spent by each of the Northern Ireland Departments on (a) rent or hire of accommodation for staff conferences and (b) overnight stays in hotels for staff in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many staff conferences have been organised by each of the Northern Ireland Departments in each year since 1997; and at what total cost;
	(3)  how many civil servants in each of the Northern Ireland Government Departments have attended staff conferences involving an overnight stay in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Health Care Funding

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the £214 million increase in health care funding in 2003–04 has been provided for (a) meeting inflation, (b) improving staff terms and conditions of employment, (c) changes in policy on charging for some services and (d) planned service developments.

Angela Smith: The DHSSPS budget uplift for 2003–04 amounted to some £214 million for Healthcare, Personal Social Care, Fire Service and Food Standards Agency. This included:
	(a) £66 million—to meet pay and price inflation,
	(b) £23 million—to improve terms and conditions for staff including the Consultants New Contract, the Junior Doctors Working Time Directive and the new GP Contract;.
	(c) Specific monies were not made available to address changes in policy on charging for some services.
	(d) £39 million—for planned service developments.

Hospital-acquired Infection

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent in the Province in the last year for which figures are available on products to combat MRSA.

Angela Smith: It is not possible to distinguish products purchased to combat MRSA from those to combat other pathogens. However information received from Trusts indicates that hospitals are spending around £83,000 annually altogether on products such as alcohol gels and antiseptic wipes which are regarded as crucial in combating MRSA. In addition a considerable amount of expenditure occurs in hospitals on infection control activity and products to deal with all types of pathogens.

Hospital-acquired Infection

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received regarding new products for combating MRSA in hospitals.

Angela Smith: My Department has recorded no particular representations regarding new products for combating MRSA in hospitals.

Hospital-acquired Infection

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of MRSA were detected at each hospital in the Province in each of the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: Data on MRSA bacteraemia rates is collected, collated and analysed by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) on a quarterly basis.
	The following table covers the four quarters ending June 2004.
	
		Episodes of MRSA bacteraemia reported by acute trusts in Northern Ireland by quarter: July 2003—June 2004 -- Quarter
		
			 Trust name July to September 2003 October to December 2003 January to March 2004 April to June 2004 
		
		
			 Altnagelvin hospital 4 6 10 8 
			 Belfast City hospital 15 17 18 9 
			 Causeway 2 2 3 1 
			 Craigavon Area hospital group 5 12 7 8 
			 Down Lisburn 2 2 5 4 
			 Green Park healthcare 2 1 1 1 
			 Mater Infirmorum 7 6 4 0 
			 Newry and Mourne 1 4 2 0 
			 Royal group of hospitals 12 10 13 6 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 6 1 7 5 
			 Ulster community and hospitals 7 4 2 12 
			 United hospitals 9 10 13 10 
			 Total 72 75 85 64 
		
	
	Data for April to June 2004 are provisional. Data quoted do not take account of the activity rates of each trust. Further data and background information on this mandatory surveillance is available at: http://www.cdscni.org.uk/publications/AnnualReports/pdf/3rd%20report%20MRSA%20Blood%20Cultures%20NI.pdf

Medication (Adverse Reactions)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the (a) costs incurred and (b) total bed days in the Province resulting from adverse reactions to medications in the 2004–05 financial year.

Angela Smith: The episodes arising in a hospital day case or inpatient environment which were specifically identified as including adverse reactions to medication cost some £2.2 million in the 2002–03 financial year, with related bed-days of some 19,300. This may not reflect the complete cost for all treatments resulting from adverse reactions to medications as these may not have been specifically identified within the hospital coding system and, furthermore, the above cost does not include related treatments in primary, community and outpatient settings.

Nursing

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether an individual in the Province has responsibility for promoting nursing as a career.

Angela Smith: Responsibility for promoting nursing as a career is shared corporately within the profession across all care sectors and does not rest with an individual in the Province. In leading and advising on nursing policy development and implementation, the Chief Nursing Officer and her team promote nursing. Education Providers and HPSS employers collaborate on promoting nursing as an exciting and challenging profession and in particular target school leavers and careers teachers with this information. The DHSSPS through its commissioning processes encourage and support this activity.

Smoking

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to tackle the level of smoking among young females in the Province.

Angela Smith: The Five Year Tobacco Action Plan, published in June 2003, provides a platform for inter-agency collaboration on tobacco control. The plan identifies children and young people as a key target group and we continue to work with Health and Social Services Boards, the Health Promotion Agency, the Department of Education, the voluntary sector and others to discourage all young people from starting to smoke and to help young smokers quit.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Conferences

George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many conferences were (a) attended by officials from the Department, (b) cancelled by and (c) facilitated by the Department in each year since 1997; and what the (i) cost to the Department and (ii) location was in each case.

David Lammy: This information is not held centrally in my Department and therefore could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Equipment

George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many items of electrical equipment were used by the Department in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by (a) cost and (b) number of each type of item.

David Lammy: The last year that figures are available for my Department is 2004. However, they relate only to the number of items of electrical equipment were in use and are not broken down by (a) cost or (b) the number of each type of item. Further, they relate to DCA HQ and Associated Offices only, and exclude the Court Service, which does not hold this information centrally and cannot provide the information without incurring disproportionate costs.
	The question is not specific as to whether the response should include only small electrical items or whether it covers a wider scope including items of plant, servers, lighting installations or air conditioning. As a result, this answer has been prepared using the Portable Appliance Testing records for 2004 which includes all moveable items but excludes items of plant. I believe that this provides us with the most accurate response possible from the information available. The total number of electrical items in use, in my Department in 2004 was 21,410.

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent by his Department on (a) indoor bought plants, (b) indoor hired plants, (c) outdoor bought plants and (d) outdoor hired plants in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: This response relates to the DCA HQ Estate and Associated offices only since the Court Service does not hold any records on this centrally and would have to incur a disproportionate cost to collect the information. Further, the DCA HQ only holds records for the last two years and would incur a disproportionate cost in searching all invoiced records since 1997.
	In the last two years, The DCA HQ estate has spent the following amounts on plants:
	
		£
		
			  (a) (b) (c) (d) 
		
		
			 2003–04 1,0350 5,399 0 0 
			 2004–05(9) 6,360 18,115 0 0 
		
	
	(9) Note:
	To December 2004.

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent by his Department on (a) new furniture and (b) hired furniture in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: My Department has spent the following amounts on furniture in the last 4 years. No central figures are held from prior to 2001 and to obtain them would incur a disproportionate cost.
	Further, this response is based on the DCA HQ Estate and associated offices only since the Court Service is unable to gather this information without disproportionate cost.
	
		£
		
			  New furniture Hired furniture 
		
		
			 2001–2002 527,000 0 
			 2002–2003 640,000 0 
			 2003–2004 1,719,000 0 
			 2004–2005(10) 775,000 0 
		
	
	(10) To December 2004
	For the purposes of this question, furniture has been assumed to include: desks, chairs, pedestals, conference furniture, cupboards, general office storage and high density and mobile storage. The question has been answered in accordance with Cabinet Office Round Robin Guidance (issued 5 January. 2005).

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Department spent on lawyers in each year since 1997; how many (a) actions, (b) settlements and (c) court cases there were in each year; and what the costs were of each settlement.

Christopher Leslie: Most litigation brought by or against the Department is handled by the Treasury Solicitor. The Department paid the following amounts in respect of litigation matters handled by the Treasury Solicitor for the period 1997 to date.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of cases worked on by the Treasury Solicitor during the year(11) Fees and disbursements billed to the Department by the Treasury Solicitor (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 159 257,095.61 
			 1998–99 207 468,320.56 
			 1999–2000 218 561,075.75 
			 2000–01 223 522,990.29 
			 2001–02 243 667,695.38 
			 2002–03 269 630,551.13 
			 2003–04 269 675,760.62 
			 2004–05 230 782,364.64 
		
	
	(11) These are the number of litigation matters worked on and billed to the Department by the Treasury Solicitor during the financial year and not necessarily new litigation matters started during that year.
	These figures do not include (i) the Treasury Solicitor's fees for providing legal advice not related to litigation, (ii) fees incurred by external legal advisers for either litigation or non-litigation related work, (iii) damages and costs paid to successful litigants in matters brought against the Department and (iv) fees incurred by counsel where the Department has instructed counsel direct on non-litigation matters.
	The Department does not have the information readily to hand to answer questions (a) , (b) and (c). Collating this information would involve looking at each individual litigation file and, given the number of files involved each year, to conduct this exercise would involve disproportionate cost. The figures given in the table will include cases that have been resolved before the commencement of court proceedings, those that have been resolved by the parties during the course of court proceedings and those that have been determined by the court.

Departmental Properties

George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many properties are held by the Department; what total floor space these properties provide; how many properties are vacant; and how much floor space vacant properties comprise.

David Lammy: The Court Service currently holds 381 properties of which 138 are freehold. The total floor space comprises 801,377 square metres. There are currently six properties that are vacant of which three are freehold. The total floor space comprises 12,059 square metres.
	There are 10 properties on the DCA headquarters estate (including the Welsh office) of which one is a freehold. The total floor space comprises 50,364 square metres. There are no vacant properties on the DCA headquarters estate.

Parental Contact Orders

Theresa May: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what the average length of time has been between the issuing of a contact order for parental rights under the Children Act 1989 and the case being listed for a first conciliation/direction appointment in the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many cases of disputed contact were dealt with by the family courts in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003;
	(3)  what guidance he has issued on whether women's refuges constitute adequate accommodation for children when considering awarding of custody in disputed custody cases.

David Lammy: Information on the average length of time between an application for a contact order under the Children Act 1989, and the case being listed for a first conciliation/direction appointment is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, work is under way to explore whether and how this information might be gathered in the future.
	Section 1 (2) of the Children Act 1989 states that
	"In any proceedings in which any question with respect to the upbringing of a child arises, the court shall have regard to the general principal that any delay in determining the question is likely to prejudice the child".
	The President of the Family Division has given guidance to family judges to aim for a first hearing dispute resolution appointment within four to six weeks of the application.
	The number of contact orders made in each year in all tiers of court (magistrates courts, county courts and High Court) were:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 (a) 2001 55,030 
			 (b) 2002 61,356 
			 (c) 2003 67,184 
		
	
	Information on how many of these cases were disputed is not collected. However, a substantial majority of contact orders are made in county courts and in 2002–03 approximately 30 per cent. of those contact orders were made with consent.
	No guidance has been issued by my Department to the courts on whether women's refuges constitute adequate accommodation for children when considering awarding of custody in disputed custody cases.
	Section 1 (3) of the Children Act 1989 lists the issues that must be considered in relation to the child's welfare. This includes
	"his physical, emotional and educational needs"
	and
	"how capable each of his parents, and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question relevant of meeting his needs".

Sex Abuse (Historical Cases)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what percentage of convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal in each of the last five years were historical sex abuse cases.

Christopher Leslie: The Criminal Appeal Office does not hold electronic records which differentiate between recent or historical sexual abuse cases. In 2004 the Court of Appeal quashed 66 convictions in cases involving sexual offences and, in some cases, retrials were ordered. The figures for the preceding years were 56 cases in 2003, 52 cases in 2002, 42 cases in 2001 and 53 cases in 2000. The percentage of those which involve historical abuse could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Stolen Property

George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many civil servants from his Department have (a) faced disciplinary proceedings as a result of allegations of theft, (b) been charged with theft and (c) been dismissed following theft allegations in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: Information about cases related to theft is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Travel Costs

Andrew Selous: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total travel costs to his Department have been for (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials for each year since 1997.

David Lammy: holding answer 8 December. 2004
	(a) It is not possible to list the travel costs of each Minister within the Department without incurring disproportionate cost. However, aggregate travel and subsistence costs for the Private Offices, which covers costs for Ministers and Officials, was as per the following table:
	
		
			 Period Amount (£) 
		
		
			 2004–05 (to November 04) 47,659 
			 2003–04 64,891 
			 2002–03 83,051 
			 2001–02 60,220 
			 2000–01 98,592 
			 1999–00 59,823 
			 1998–99 40,192 
		
	
	Information on previous years is not readily available.
	In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government has published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government has also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.
	The Department has published rules for official travel in its staff handbook and ministerial travel is governed by the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
	(b) Travel costs for Special Advisors who accompany their Ministers overseas is included in the annual list on Overseas Travel by Cabinet Ministers. Further travel costs for (b) Special Advisers can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	(c) Total travel costs to the Department for (c) officials, which includes domestic and overseas travel and covers costs for the Court Service (CS), the Public Guardianship Office (PGO) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs, Headquarters (DCA HQ) are set out in the following table:
	
		£
		
			 Period DCA HQ CS PGO Total DCA 
		
		
			 2004–05 (to 30 November) 1,888,680 2,261,728 30,671 4,181,079 
			 2003–04 2,389,149 3,664,272 34,639 6,088,060 
			 2002–03 1,174,209 3,964,961 41,783 5,180,953 
			 2001–02 1,179,355 3,377,593 61,480 4,618,428 
			 2000–01 1,307,772 2,972,788 43,082 4,323,642 
			 1999–2000 1,096,679 3,215,919 28,751 4,341,349 
			 1998–99 903,983 2,696,618 16,934 3,617,535 
		
	
	All travel is undertaken in accordance with the guidelines set out in the "Ministerial Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code".

Witnesses (Criminal Courts)

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to extend the automatic availability of special witness measures to complainants in criminal cases of domestic violence.

Paul Goggins: I have been asked to reply.
	The special measures provisions are contained in Part II Chapter I of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. They enable appropriate assistance to be provided across the range of vulnerable or intimidated witnesses.
	Because of the special nature of sexual offences and the sensitive nature of the evidence that is given, victims of sexual offences are automatically eligible for special measures. This is also the case for young witnesses. Other witnesses will be eligible for assistance if the court considers that the quality of their evidence may be diminished on the grounds of a mental disorder, learning disability or physical disability or disorder, or because of their fear or distress about testifying. In the latter case the court must take into account a range of factors including the domestic circumstances of the witness, any behaviour towards the witness on the part of the accused, and the nature and alleged circumstances of the offence.
	Domestic violence victims will be eligible for assistance if they meet these requirements. We would expect courts to be sensitive to the needs of victims of domestic violence and grant special measures where it would be appropriate.
	The roll-out of special measures is ongoing and work is underway as part of the "No Witness No Justice" initiative. This will give a single point of contact to the witness and will provide a tailored needs assessment not only for their requirements at trial, but also for the period from charge to trial. The Government believes that it would be best to complete the implementation of these measures and then review their effectiveness before considering whether any changes to the legislation are needed.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Parliamentary Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Leader of the House if the Parliamentary Pension scheme will participate in the Pension Protection Fund.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Work and Pensions on 21 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1639–40W.

Statutory Instruments

John Hayes: To ask the Leader of the House how many statutory instruments were introduced in the past 12 months; how many were debated on the Floor of the House; how many were made under the provisions of legislation originating in the European Communities; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: 1,032 made statutory instruments and 200 draft statutory instruments were laid before Parliament during 2004. 172 of the made instruments were made under powers contained in section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972. How many instruments were made under the provisions of other legislation which may have originated in the European Communities is not recorded.
	Six affirmative instruments were debated on the Floor of the House during 2004. Two of these were not statutory instruments but were agreed by the House to be treated as such.

TREASURY

IT Projects

George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list his Department's IT projects for each year since 1997, broken down by (a) amount spent, (b) purpose, (c) cost of over-run and (d) time of over-run.

Stephen Timms: The information in respect of the Treasury is in the following table.
	The costs shown for each of the IT projects cover externally-provided hardware, software and implementation costs and may, in addition, cover other costs such as training where this will be part of the initial contract to be placed with the external contractor. The costs of in-house project development are not included. Support and on-going maintenance costs are excluded.
	Only IT projects with estimated costs of over £250,000, on the basis described above, are included in the table.
	The information is presented in a form which is consistent with previous replies.
	
		
			 Year of project start IT project Actual or current estimate spend (£000) Cost or time overrun (£000 months) 
		
		
			 1998 Replacement of Treasury Financial Information System (FIS) 559 — 
			 1999 Replacement of central HR/personnel system for HMT 337 Time: 1 
			 2000 Replacement of the computer system which supports the operational accounting and cashflow forecasting work of the Treasury Exchequer Funds and Accounts team. (TRiP) 1,000 Cost: 60 Time: 21 
			 2000 Provision of a search engine to enhance the document management repository, internet and intranet in HMT 250 — 
			 2000 Upgrading the Treasury PC desktop to Windows and Office 2000 2,500 — 
			 2000 Replacement of Treasury's domestic accounting system 900 — 
			 2001 Implementation of the GOLD system for the Consolidation of Central Government Accounts 622 — 
			 2001 Redevelopment of Treasury's public website 250 — 
			 2001 Provision of IT services in support of HMT Business Continuity Plan 1,455 — 
			 2002 Move and provision of new IT facilities in new HMT building, 1 Horse Guards Road 1,717 — 
			 2002 Conversion of HMT PCs from Token Ring networking to Ethernet networking 260 — 
			 2002 Improvements to the capacity, reliability, performance and ease-of-use of secure remote working facilities in HMT 500 — 
			 2003 Combining three separate Treasury financial data collection and reporting systems into one Single Data System 2,400 — 
			 2003 Enhancing Document and Records Management capability in HM Treasury 1,800 —

DEFENCE

Anti-armour Weapons

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the features of the Brimstone anti-armour weapon, the New Light anti-armour weapon and the LF anti-tank guided weapon system distinguish them from each other.

Adam Ingram: These three complementary anti-armour weapons have fundamentally different characteristics.
	Brimstone is an air launched anti-armour missile system with a range of over 10,000 m. It will be carried by fast jet aircraft and operates autonomously after firing to search a given area for vehicles. In contrast, both the Next Generation Light And Armour Weapon (NLAW) and Light Forces Anti-Tank Guided Weapon (LF ATGW) are man-portable ground based systems. NLAW is a short-range lightweight unguided weapon that will have broad applications across the services with a simple, but highly capable and versatile anti-armour capability. The LF ATGW, based on the US Javelin system, is a more sophisticated guided weapon with a range of some 2,500 m. Javelin will equip Light Forces, Mechanised and Armoured Infantry, and Formation Reconnaissance units.

European Combined Forces

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the relationship is between the new European peacekeeping force in Bosnia and the European Union; what command and control structures operate; what the relationship is between the new force and NATO; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The European Union peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Operation ALTHEA, operates under the political control and strategic direction of the European Union. This is implemented through the Political and Security Committee and the EU Military Committee to the EU Operation Commander, General Sir John Reith, who also holds the NATO position of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
	The EU is able to draw on many NATO assets and capabilities in support of Operation ALTHEA in accordance with the Berlin Plus arrangements. There is a close working relationship between the EU and NATO in relation to operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by the collocation of personnel at all levels of command. In Bosnia, there is a very close working relationship between the Commander of the EU Force and the Senior Military Representative in NATO HQ Sarajevo.

Procurement Budget

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effects on the procurement budget of the spreading of the overheads of the defence exports industry across exports and UK requirements; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence estimates that some £300 million annually is saved to its procurement budget through the spreading of its suppliers' overheads across export output in addition to UK requirements.

TRANSPORT

A3 (Road Safety)

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the accident statistics were for the A3 (a) in each of the five years before and (b) in each year after the 50 mph speed limit was introduced.

David Jamieson: There is more than one 50 mph section on the A3 between Portsmouth and London.
	The section of the A3 inside London forms part of the Greater London Authority Road Network—now known as the Transport for London Road Network—and is the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). Further information concerning the accident statistics of that part of the A3 should be obtained from:
	Chris Lines
	Head of London Road Safety Unit
	Transport for London
	Windsor House
	42–50 Victoria Street
	London SW1H 0TL
	The accident statistics for the A3 from Central London to Portsmouth in each of the last five years were as follows:
	
		Number of accidents on the A3: GB 1999–2003
		
			 Severity 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Fatal 5 11 9 7 14 
			 Serious 99 119 112 95 103 
			 Slight 815 725 770 773 653 
			 All 919 855 891 875 770 
		
	
	
		Number of casualties on the A3: GB 1999–2003
		
			 Severity 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Killed 5 12 9 7 17 
			 Serious 116 131 129 106 120 
			 Slight 1,070 977 1,000 1,016 906 
			 All 1,191 1,120 1,138 1,129 1,043

Buses

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the privatised bus network in rural areas on access to public services; and if he will make a statement.

Charlotte Atkins: It is primarily for local authorities to assess whether the bus network is meeting the access needs of local communities and to decide in particular cases whether to subsidise a bus service under their duty in the Transport Act 1985 to secure a service where a public transport requirement would in their view not otherwise be met.
	The Department has recently issued guidance to local authorities on accessibility planning, which sets a framework for local authorities to carry out an assessment of accessibility needs in their area and the setting of access priorities and targets.
	Since 1998 Government have provided significant new funding for rural transport, including Rural Bus Subsidy Grant for local authorities which totals £51 million this year and is supporting 2,200 new and enhanced rural bus services. A large number of local authorities in rural areas are now helping to meet accessibility needs by supporting demand-responsive and community transport services.

Integrated National Public Transport Information System

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made with the introduction of the comprehensive integrated national public transport information system, referred to on 20 July, Official Report, column 784.

Alistair Darling: Column reference 784, from the Official Report of 20 July does not exist. If the hon. Member cares to re-table his question with the correct Official Report reference, I will answer it.

Reading Station

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Strategic Rail Authority to provide him with the business case for a major scheme at Reading station; and when he expects to publish the business case.

Tony McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority has considered possible upgrade options for Reading station, but is not in a position to undertake further development of this scheme within its currently funded investment programme.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Age Discrimination

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her Department's policy is towards age discrimination.

Jacqui Smith: As an equal opportunities employer, my Department regularly monitors its personnel procedures to ensure that there is no discrimination. The Department aims to be fair to all staff, and potential staff, and ensure that no-one receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age.
	We have equality proofed recruitment and internal postings policies and procedures and all staff below the senior civil service now have the same retirement age.
	We are working with the Employers Forum on Age to further develop initiatives and to share best practice with a range of public and private sector employers. We also held a number of focus groups in 2004 to discuss age issues with staff as part of a CIPD study and are currently considering the outputs.

Average Earnings (Greater London)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average earnings for (a) males and (b) females working within the Greater London area was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 12 January 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what the average earnings for (a) males and (b) females working within the Greater London area was in the latest period for which figures are available. (201651).
	Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period, by their place of work. This is the standard definition used for Annual Survey of Hours and Earning tables. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
	The median gross weekly earnings in 2004, for full-time males in Greater London was £597.0 and for females £478.3.
	These data, along with mean gross weekly earnings and details for local authorities, are available on the statistics web site:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme–labour/ ASHE– 2004–mc/tab7–la.xls
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It has a one per cent sample of all employees.
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings publication criteria ensures that published estimates are undisclosive. A number of estimates have been removed from the published tables for these reasons.

Departmental Funding (Hertfordshire)

Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the organisations and businesses in Hertfordshire that have received funding from (a) the Department and (b) its arm's length bodies in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 2003–04.

Jacqui Smith: Most departmental funding for Hertfordshire is made available through arm's length bodies. The following table shows a list of Hertfordshire based businesses and organisations in receipt of DTI funding through the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and the Small Business Service (SBS). The list includes Business Link for Hertfordshire whose primary funding is channelled through the regional SBS team based in Cambridge.
	Because the Department's Finance and Resource Management Directorate does not hold information at county level it would not be possible, without disproportionate expense, to provide a comprehensive list of businesses and organisations in Hertfordshire that have received funding from centrally delivered initiatives.
	
		Hertfordshire companies and organisations receiving funding through DTI agencies in financial years ending 31 March 2003 and 2004
		
			   Funded in 
			 Organisation name Funding agency 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 3D Experience Ltd SBS Yes Yes 
			 A and O Consultancy Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 Advanced Visual Technology Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 Apsley Paper Trail EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Ashe Morris Ltd. SBS Yes — 
			 Borehamwood Community Partnership EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Broadband for All—Little Gaddesden EEDA — Yes 
			 Business Link Hertfordshire EEDA Yes — 
			 Business Link Hertfordshire SBS Yes Yes 
			 Camtel SBS Yes Yes 
			 ChemAdd Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 Chiltern Microwave Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 Cytofluidix Ltd. SBS Yes — 
			 DXG (UK) Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 EEC (Europe) Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 Enterprising Communities EEDA — Yes 
			 ETAG Solutions Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 European Technology for Business Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 Fairclough Hall Farm EEDA Yes — 
			 Food Business Development Consultancy SBS — Yes 
			 Hatfield Heath Broadband EEDA — Yes 
			 Hatfield Regis Grange Farm EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Hertfordshire Business Incubation Centre Ltd. EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Hertfordshire County Council EEDA — Yes 
			 Hertfordshire Enterprise Alliance EEDA Yes — 
			 Hertfordshire Prosperity Forum EEDA — Yes 
			 Hexton Manor Farm EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Innovation Society for the East of England EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Intelligent Personal Security Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 KeCrypt Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 Lamerholm Fleming Ltd. SBS Yes — 
			 Lee Valley Regional Park Authority EEDA Yes — 
			 MGM Mills-Rose Farm EEDA Yes — 
			 Naviguide Search Technology Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 New Media Services SBS — Yes 
			 Omnagen Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 Optical Metrology Centre SBS Yes Yes 
			 PE Mead and Sons EEDA — Yes 
			 Photonics Consultancy SBS Yes Yes 
			 Quadro Healthcare Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 Raitzen Technologies Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 Realife Trust EEDA Yes — 
			 Rothamsted Research EEDA Yes — 
			 SB Electronic Systems Ltd. SBS Yes — 
			 Screen East (Leavesden) EEDA — Yes 
			 Software for People Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 South West Herts Business Partnership Limited EEDA — Yes 
			 Stevenage Partnership Group EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Syrris Ltd. SBS Yes Yes 
			 The Waltham Cross SRB6 Partnership EEDA Yes — 
			 The Zap Corporation Ltd. SBS — Yes 
			 Trestle Theatre Company EEDA Yes — 
			 University of Hertfordshire EEDA Yes Yes 
			 University of Hertfordshire Business School EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Ware Museum Trust EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Watford Borough Council EEDA — Yes 
			 Welwyn Hatfield Area Regeneration Partnership EEDA Yes Yes 
			 West Watford and South Oxhey Area Partnership Board EEDA Yes Yes 
			 Xennia Technology Ltd. SBS — Yes

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Export Credits Guarantee Department has suspended further cover to BAE Systems pending the outcome of the investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations of false accounting.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 21 December 2004
	ECGD has not suspended further cover to BAE Systems.
	On any application for further cover from BAE Systems ECGD will consider, in accordance with its standard practice, both facts relating to the transaction for which cover is sought and any relevant history of the applicant in other transactions. Conviction for corrupt activity in other transactions would be a prima facie reason not to grant further cover.

Lie Detector Technology

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the value of using lie detector technology when assessing claims for coal disease-related compensation.

Nigel Griffiths: Voice stress technology is increasingly being used by the insurance industry to speed up claims processing. The Department considered whether to do a limited trial to assess its usefulness in Vibration White Finger claims but decided against it.

Lyons Review

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what response the Department has made to proposals in the Lyons Review to relocate jobs in the Department to North East Scotland.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 10 January 2005
	My Department is required under the Spending Review 2004 to report its relocation proposals to the Office of Government Commerce by March 2005 and is currently developing its proposals. The Lyons Review acknowledged that the Department has an office in Aberdeen, serving the oil and gas industry, and there is no intention to change this position.

Reach Initiative

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the Reach Initiative regarding unsafe substances; what progress has been made with international consideration of the initiative; what barriers there are to its agreement; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The aim of the proposed REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) is to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment from hazardous substances across the EU, while also ensuring the efficient functioning of the internal market, and stimulating innovation and competitiveness in the industries affected by it. These aims will be achieved by improving the information available to users of substances, including consumers, and public authorities on the potential risks posed by substances.
	On 21 January 2004 the EU notified the proposed Regulation under the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, providing our trading partners with an opportunity to comment on the proposals. In response to the several comments received, the European Commission gave a detailed presentation to WTO members on the proposed operation and rationale of the REACH Regulation at the TBT Committee held on 4 November 2004 and explained that they considered REACH to be proportionate and did not discriminate against non-EU suppliers.
	The continuing negotiations on REACH will seek to remove barriers to agreement among member states by improving the proposals further. The Government are seeking to reach political agreement under the UK Presidency of the EU during the second half of this year.

UK Trade and Investment

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what UK Trade and Investment business support schemes are run by representative trade bodies; and what plans there are to end these schemes.

Douglas Alexander: UK Trade and Investment administers a number of schemes run by representative trade bodies. These schemes include Support for Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad (SESA), the Export Marketing Research Scheme (EMRS) and the Export Communication Review Scheme (ECRS).
	However, as part of its Trade Services Review, which followed an extensive Customer Needs Review, UK Trade and Investment will continue to monitor and evaluate its offering of business support schemes to ensure that its resources are used to maximum impact and benefit to its customers.